


resilience

by WattStalf



Series: The Comedienne and the Comedian [1]
Category: Watchmen - All Media Types
Genre: Eddie and Sally are the only ones genderbent, F/M, Homophobic Language, Rape Attempt, Rule 63
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-25
Updated: 2016-03-25
Packaged: 2018-05-29 02:20:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6354880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WattStalf/pseuds/WattStalf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Edie wants Sal, no matter what it takes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	resilience

**Author's Note:**

> The first part in what I hope to be a series about rule 63 Eddie and Sally (and eventually Laurie), where everyone else is the same gender. Things play out a little differently simply because Edie is a girl and it's the forties, and I'm going to try to explore how other situations will be different based on Edie being the woman in the relationship.  
> I don't normally like using Comedienne for rule 63 Eddie just because I don't think she'd be smart enough to know the difference, but in this case I have to. Also Fearsome Phantom is a stupid replacement for Silk Spectre, but he'd be trying to sound cool and I'm sure Larry would have had something to do with coming up with it.

Sal Jupiter was showy, flamboyant, maybe even a fag, but damned if Edith Blake didn't still want him. She didn't know what it was that made him so frustratingly attractive, but whatever it was was there and had been from the very beginning.

Being one of two women in the Minutemen meant that Edie had a fair choice of men, but, like all the other teenage girl in America, her heart was set on Sal. But she was not every other teenage girl in America; she was the Comedienne and she was Sal's teammate. They were almost friends, or the closest thing to friends that Edie had ever been with anyone.

She could have desired any man on her team, but it was only Sal, and Christ, she wanted him. It was unusual, she knew, for a girl her age to have these desire to this degree, or maybe it wasn't, but she sure as hell hadn't heard about it from anyone else. Either way, she _felt_ unusual, even a bit wrong, and that was almost better.

She didn't know why, exactly, she always made such a concentrated effort to go against the grain. Some people might call it teenage rebellion, but she'd deck anyone who said that to her face. Whatever the case, she liked that it felt wrong to want Sal this much, made her feel better about the fact that, by liking him, she was very much not going against the grain.

There were nights when she hardly slept, she was so consumed with thoughts of him, so consumed with fantasies of all she would do to him, and she could forget that she really had no comparison and nothing to base her fantasies off of. She was sixteen, but she wasn't completely stupid; she knew the basics, and she could imagine how it might feel and how it might be with him. Someday, she knew, she would have the chance to find out firsthand.

She didn't know when or how that time would come, but there was simply no other option in her mind. Her desire for him consumed her so much that the idea that there was the slightest chance she would not someday have him seemed ridiculous to her. Even if he treated her more like a kid sister than a potential lover, even if she had no idea how to get his attention, even if she was far from feminine and that seemed to be his type.

The Fearsome Phantom (how he had come up with a name like that was beyond her) would be hers sooner or later, or else the Comedienne would absolutely lose her mind.

~X~

Her opportunity came one afternoon, after the group had posed for photographs. The whole ordeal had been agonizingly boring for her, given the fact that she had to sit still, which she hated. To make matters worse, she was told that her height didn't work well with the rest of the group and she was made to kneel in front, which was an uncomfortable pose to hold. Edie was already irritated, and her mood didn't improve as they began to filter out.

She tried to insert herself into Sal's conversations, but she was brushed off, until she wanted to scream. Why did everyone leave her out and push her aside like that? Was she really that hard to put up with it or was it just because she was so young? She didn't know, but she was fed up with it and fed up with waiting, so when Sal said that he was changing and ducked off into the trophy room, she followed him.

She hung back for a bit, not sure how to approach him or how to follow through with this situation, and instead just watched as Sal began taking off parts of his complicated yellow and black costume, feeling a familiar heat rising up within her. Her breath hitched in her throat and she saw Sal flinch, and she realized that her position was exposed whether she wanted it to be or not.

“Hi,” she said, as he turned to her with wide eyes.

“Edie?” he asked. “What the hell are you doing in here?”

“C'mon, isn't it obvious?” she replied, forcing a smirk to disguise how nervous she suddenly was. “Haven't had much one on one time with ya, so I thought I'd take advantage of the opportunity.”

For a man who presented himself as the perfect ladies' man, Sal did not seem comfortable having a woman this close to him with her intentions made so obvious and he stepped back as she stepped forward. Edie pressed on, and Sal continued to back away, until he was up against a table, with nowhere further to go.

“Edie, seriously. What are you trying to pull here?” he demanded.

“You know damn well,” she said, eyes darkening, scowling at him. “It's pretty obvious how much I want ya, so how about we stop pretendin' there's nothing goin' on between the two of us.”

“Edie...Edie, listen,” said Sal, sounding like he was trying to rationalize with an unruly child, and she felt her temper flare up all the more. “I don't think you understand the situation. I mean, I know you and I get along and all, and you're a real sweet girl, but I don't...”

“Don't what?” she snapped. She was getting really mad now, and she pressed a finger into his chest, raising her voice. “Don't like me? After the way ya talk to me, the way ya look at me, and you expect me to believe that?!” Edie let our a harsh laugh that made him cringe.

“That's not...I don't want...” He stammered, and there was fear in his eyes, and Edie absolutely hated that fear. She knew she was stronger than him, but that didn't excuse him acting like a fucking coward about this, and she hated that fear because it was directed at her and that meant that he didn't like her at all.

“Don't lie to me!” she snarled, grabbing him by his shoulders. “I know you want this, you have to!” Her voice grew enraged and desperate, as she both pleaded with him and demanded that he do this for her.

Sal grabbed her then, and roughly pushed her off of him, and that was all it took to set her off once and for all. She grabbed him again and spun him away from the table, throwing him to the floor and tackling, raising a fist. There was only a split second of hesitation, staring down into Sal's eyes, before the fist made contact with his jaw, followed by another punch, and another.

When she was sure that he was subdued and that he would not fight back, she went for his pants, hastily pulling them off and taking him in hand. He wasn't aroused, but she would get him there no matter what it took, one way or another, and then she would win and he would be hers.

“Come on,” she said, “come on, it'll be fine.” She wasn't sure which of them she was trying to convince. “Just want me back!” His lip was split and she had hit him in the nose at some point, so his face was bloody, and he looked so weak and terrified that she wanted to hit him again but held back. She was so close to having him, so close that it hurt and the ever-present ache of her desire for him was begging to be resolved.

“Sal, are you still getting ready?” asked an exasperated sounding voice as Hooded Justice rounded the corner. He had always been put off by how concerned with appearances Sal was. “The others are waiting for...”

He trailed off, taking in the scene, and Edie knew how it looked. Once, Schexnayder had asked her how she felt about HJ, and all she could say was that he gave her the creeps with his “mystery man” act. The manager had followed up by asking if she'd ever consider a relationship with him and Edie had laughed in his face. Now, she was not laughing, and she felt a lot more than creeped out. Now, she was terrified, because she had been caught.

“You little brat,” she heard him say, his voice low. He closed the distance between them rapidly while she tried to stammer out her excuses.

“But he...but he wanted me to...we were just...” But HJ didn't listen to her and instead picked her up by the back of her jumpsuit, tossing her to the side. It was not hard enough to do serious damage, but it still hurt and the message behind it was clear. He knew how much she could take and he had intended to hurt her, at least a little bit.

“You vicious little brat, you stay away from him,” he said. “I don't know what you think you're doing, but if I ever catch you coming near him again...”

“What?” she asked, standing up and dusting herself off. “What, are ya jealous or something? He your new boyfriend? See, I know all about ya and-”

“Shut up,” he snapped, “before you say something you'll regret. I'm not afraid to hurt a girl if I have to, so do as you're told and get out of here.”

Now, she was laughing. “Yeah, definitely jealous. Not afraid to hit a girl, sure, but we  _all_ know you ain't afraid to hit a man. Wish you were the one doin' it to him, right? If ya think I don't got you all figured out, then the joke's on you cos I do!”

“Get out!” he repeated, his tone harsh and threatening. She knew better than to press her luck, even if she was still so mad that every part of her was crying out for a fight.

“Fine, fine, I'm going,” she grumbled, turning to leave. “But you ain't foolin' anyone, ya know.”

She waited just out of sight to listen as HJ spoke to Sal at last. “Get up and get dressed,” he said. “You can't tell anyone about this, you know. No one will believe you didn't want this and you'll only make a fool of yourself.” There was a pause before he added, “You ought to be ashamed of yourself, letting the brat overpower you like that.”

~X~

Sal did as he was told and didn't tell anyone what Edie had tried to do to him, but every meeting after that made her feel like shit. The implications of her actions had set in too late and her temper had blinded her too much to allow her to consider them before she had gone too far. Even if she hadn't gone all the way, Sal still wouldn't look at her, and HJ kept a closer eye on her, as if daring her to try anything.

“This isn't fun anymore,” she said one day, and she quit the Minutemen without another word about it. Anything was better than pretending like everything was fine while two other people knew exactly why it wasn't. The Comedienne went off on her own, and did what she could to forget about Sal Jupiter.

 


End file.
